Chapter 19

Money was slowly accumulating, and with some spare cash on hand, my eyes naturally turned to the idea of expanding my mode. The most practical option? Expanding my bag. That 1000-gold item was mighty tempting.

Next in line was the 500-gold mini-map, but I wasn’t feeling its necessity just yet. It seemed like something I’d only need when venturing far or getting lost, which wasn’t happening anytime soon. Strolling around this small village didn’t exactly call for it. Plus, I was already hooked on using gold to buy seeds and inflate my wealth, so spending 500 gold felt a bit extravagant.

The case for the bag, however, was different.

Treasures from fishing—random junk and fish. Ores and gemstones from mining. Crops and cooking materials from farming. Potions, equipment, and various essentials all piled up. Even though my bag had 100 slots, filling them to the brim was an everyday occurrence. With some extra funds now at my disposal, investing a thousand gold wasn’t much of a stretch.

On the 18th night of spring, I expanded my bag. It grew from 100 slots to 1000—a tenfold increase. Unless I started hoarding items like a squirrel, I wouldn’t run out of space anytime soon. I was satisfied. Best purchase ever. Now, I could toss anything into my bag without worrying about running out of room.

Spring’s 19th day arrived, and I set a short-term goal: enchanting all tools with Mithril and achieving advanced farming skills. Fishing would have to wait since mining would likely consume most of my time. Farming, even done casually in the mornings, was leveling up quickly, so I figured it’d hit advanced first.

I decided to casually level up fishing during downtime, but after tasting the sweet rewards of farming that netted thousands of gold daily, the mere hundreds from fishing seemed dull.

By the 20th day of spring, farming reached level 7, finally surpassing fishing. Mining hit intermediate level 3.

Selling garlic and musk melons at Abel’s shop proved more efficient than other crops. Focusing solely on those two allowed me to rake in several thousand gold per day effortlessly.

But as my farm grew, managing it became overwhelming. Planting 3000-4000 seeds nonstop took 5-6 hours. My mornings were practically erased.

Was there no mod or tool to automatically plant seeds?

With spare money came a desire for convenience.

In games, watering plants was solved by sprinklers that automatically watered crops. Here, watering with a watering can worked fine, though it did take time. The real issue was planting seeds.

Carelessly scattering seeds led to stunted growth, so proper planting—digging, planting, covering—was essential.

On the 21st day, farming hit level 8, surpassing fishing.

By the 22nd, farming reached level 9, nearing its peak. Mining hit level 4.

Gold was piling up, allowing me to buy seeds and still save several thousand comfortably. Still, I capped myself at 5000 seeds daily. Even that meant planting seeds nonstop for 7 hours without rest. If I factored in breaks, it stretched to over 8 hours. Beyond 5000 seeds, mining became difficult due to exhaustion.

That night, in a dream:

[You are eligible to reach the advanced level!]

[Your current farming skill is Advanced Level 1 (Planned). Achieve the required conditions to unlock Advanced Level 1!]

[The conditions are as follows:

1. Achievement: “Eyes Always on the Ground” completion.

2. Achievement: “Tasted Clouds!” completion.

3. Achievement: “First Step of a Wealthy Farmer” completion.]

When did reaching advanced levels require achievements?

Staring blankly at the dream message, I realized something unexpected had cropped up transitioning from the 22nd to the 23rd day.

Why had advancing levels suddenly become conditional?

Painkillers were prepared, expecting some hardship.

Checking the three split achievements:

“Eyes Always on the Ground”: Plant 10,000 seeds. Already achieved; I’d surpassed that long ago.

“First Step of a Wealthy Farmer”: Own 10,000 gold. Also completed ages ago.

The problematic one was “Tasted Clouds!”—obtain a Sky Dew Fruit. This was obtainable at the Fairy Farm, part of the exploration needed for the game-ending sequence. One of four achievements required to access the Fairy Sky Garden.

Fairy Sky Garden achievements:

– Learn teleportation magic.

– Obtain Sky Dew Fruit.

– Build all available structures.

– Grow a beanstalk.

Digging through my memory confirmed this. A direct trip to the Fairy Farm was necessary.

Exploration—an unexpected hurdle.

The Fairy Farm was far. A round trip would take at least 10 days.

Buying seeds, cooking materials, and food with leftover gold, I began pondering this journey carefully. If I had to go eventually, doing so for farming reasons made sense.

Morning air woke me on the 23rd day of spring. What I expected to be a painful day filled with painkillers turned into an unplanned expedition.

The problem? Leaving everything behind wasn’t an option. Who’d take care of my precious crops during a 10-day absence? Losing progress on crops I’d nurtured so painstakingly would be a massive loss—my future income stream.

Automation issues loomed large.

At the crafting table, I found sprinklers: Iron Sprinkler, Silver Sprinkler, Mithril Sprinkler. While higher-tier ones existed, Mithril was my limit.

Materials needed: 10 iron ingots, 10 gold ingots, 5 mithril ingots. Unfortunately, ranges covered by each sprinkler weren’t specified, leaving me to experiment.

Starting with the Iron Sprinkler, needing 20 stones and 3 iron ingots, I crafted it.

A rather crude sprinkler emerged, revealing instructions upon creation: Fill with water and press to disperse water every 24 hours.

Placing it on the ground and filling it with a watering can, it sprayed water—but not much. Given its simplicity, I let it slide.

Next was Mithril. Silver was too rare and valuable for sprinklers when Mithril was readily available.

Thanks to stockpiling resources like a squirrel, creating the Mithril Sprinkler was rewarding.

The Mithril Sprinkler gleamed beautifully under sunlight, dispersing water widely. Despite requiring more water—about three times what a gold watering can held—it felt worth it for coverage lasting 10 days.

Installing one roughly gauged its range.

Without exact numerical values, visual estimation sufficed as long as water reached the crops.

“This is decent.”

It covered several thousand seeds easily, spraying water farther than expected.

Watering crops became effortless. Tool enchantments could wait; these were immediate needs.

Though consuming resources, automation saved time.

Comfort once tasted makes returning to hardship unlikely.

Materials were lacking.

That shiny Mithril pickaxe felt annoying. Without it, equipping my fields with Mithril sprinklers might’ve been easier.

Around 5 sprinklers seemed necessary, requiring 250 Mithril ores. Having made 3, I still needed 100 more—a single day of intense mining.

The humid, unpleasant mine awaited, but complaining wouldn’t change reality.

The sprinklers worked splendidly, watering half my field efficiently.

Midday approached. After trading at Abel’s shop, I prepared for mining. Today’s earnings: 2560 gold from selling 3000 garlics.

Mining was monotonous but provided infinite resources thanks to its game-like mechanics. Though occasionally frustrating, this ambiguity between reality and game kept things interesting.

Reaching the 20th floor involved sweaty, uncomfortable work until finding cool Mithril veins brought smiles.

Better tools sped up mining, proving the RPG adage true.

Mining late meant limited Mithril collection. Returning home was necessary. Collecting 70 ores today, 30 more tomorrow would complete preparations.

Tomorrow’s plan was simple: sleep elsewhere to confirm if dreams occurred.

Dream presence dictated how much food and equipment to bring—if present, less; absent, more.

Walking home while listing expedition needs, I arrived before feeling too tired. Beds were oddly comforting. Darkness without smartphones or light lulled me to sleep effortlessly. Modern insomnia research might not be entirely wrong.

Thus ended the 23rd day of spring.